Meltdown

Rating:
Summary: DEFINATELY A RENTAL ONLY VIDEO
Review: As much as I like Jet Li, I couldn't really recomend this video to anyone. He does almost no fighting and most of what he does is with guns, which as an on-screen weapon is the most boring to watch. He shows a few moves, but it's all over in the blink of an eye. It also had drop dead gorgeous uber-femme Valerie Chow, ("Chungking Express" and "Blade", the Tsui Hark film, NOT the Wesley Snipes vehicle) as the villians girlfriend. (...)

Rating:
Summary: DEFINATELY A RENTAL ONLY VIDEO
Review: As much as I like Jet Li, I couldn't really recomend this video to anyone. He does almost no fighting and most of what he does is with guns, which as an on-screen weapon is the most boring to watch. He shows a few moves, but it's all over in the blink of an eye. It also had drop dead gorgeous uber-femme Valerie Chow, ("Chungking Express" and "Blade", the Tsui Hark film, NOT the Wesley Snipes vehicle) as the villians girlfriend. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Don't take it seriously
Review: Don't take this movie for more than what it is, a comedy. It was funny, Jet Li fans won't find what they're looking for, if they want typical Jet Li. It's some pretty good fighting scenes at the end, especially when Frankie, turns from a coward to a fighting machine. If you watch this movie not expecting much, you'll be pleased.

Rating:
Summary: Jet Li's no doubtedly worst film
Review: Even Jet Li fans (including me) are disappointed by "High Risk", which held so bad a plot no one even remembers it. Sure, acting by Jet Li was superb - as always, but Heavenly King Jacky Cheung of Hong Kong is known as God of Singers, and should stay that way, as he is one of THE worst actors an audience could ever lay eyes upon! He proves my point the most with his acting performance in "High Risk". And even if the acting credibility was boosted by replacing Jacky Cheung (right on cover) with a fabulous actor, this movie would only gain another half a star. Plot was incredibly weak and inconsistent and almost typical of early 1990's Hong Kong cinema. Character development? None whatsoever. Camera angles and photography? That's probably the thing that gained one star for this film (The other being Jet Li.) The cover of this film makes special effects seem superb, but don't ever judge a film by its cover. Special effects did not impress.

Out of all Jet Li's Hong Kong films, the kung-fu choreography and kung-fu scenes were the worst in this film, along with his 1993 film "The Master." Jet Li left his kung-fu and went to guns (contributing to typical early 1990's HK film).

If you would like to see an awesome kung-fu film of Jet's, this is NOT the one. If you are a true kung-fu fan, Jet Li's best fight sequences are choreographed by Corey Yuen in "The New Legend of Shaolin" with Jet's best fight scenes in his entire acting career. If you like guns, see Chow Yun-Fat's "Hard-Boiled" or "A Better Tomorrow" series.

"High Risk", staring Jet Li and Jacky Cheung did have potential for a nice action film, but there is little kung-fu, almost no plot, non-impressive special effects, and no character development at all. ...

Rating:
Summary: Can Jackie Chan parady Jet Li?
Review: For those of us used to Jet Li movies, We know that his family will die soon in the movie and he wil go on a revenge streak. Same in this movie. What is different is "Frankie", a mix of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. A character Jet Li is hired as a body guard. Jackie Chan fans will wonder why Jet Li made so much fun of Chan. It makes you wince every now and then. Jackie Chan is easy to make fun of. How do you parady Jet Li? Fight in slow motion and speed it up to look like keystone cops, (No he allready does that). Oh did I mention that the script is stolen from Die Hard? Worth watching if somebody else pays for it.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely the funniest action/comedy from Hong Kong
Review: For those who are fans of Hong Kong cinema, they'll definitely know that despite the fact Jackie Chan films are reasonably more comical than Jet Li's works, Li's films have a tendency to be a bit more exaggerated in terms of the action sequences. With High Risk, you have those same fun action sequences you get from Jet Li, along with a hilarious sidekick in Jacky Cheung (who very much resembles Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan). All this results in an action/comedy that's incredibly entertaining.

The plot is a parody of Die Hard, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Hong Kong films in general. After a fairly tense and serious beginning, the film changes it tone a bit more lighthearted despite some bloody violence. Jet Li plays Li Kit, a bomb expert whose wife and child are killed by a terrorist known only as Doctor. Years later, a disheartened Kit has become a stunt double and bodyguard for a famous action star named Frankie (Jackie Cheung). The only thing is, nobody knows Frankie uses a stunt double or the fact that he's an absolute coward. Sure, he knows martial arts but he's a complete scaredy-cat. Frankie attends a banquet with his father (played by another actor who is also hilarious) that will display a valuable jewel. Unfortunately, the place is taken under siege by the terrorist called Doctor. Kit learns of the Doctor's plans and attempts put a stop to it. Add that along with a man known only as Bond, whose goal in life is to fight the action star Frankie one-on-one and you've got an action film that truly doesn't hold anything back.

While the action sequences in High Risk are masterfully choreographed, creative, and well done, some might be a bit disheartened that there are more shootouts than martial action (typical of Jet Li films set in modern day), though there is still plenty of the latter to satisfy.

But what's best about the movie has got to be the comedy. This is flat-out a film full of laughs so big your ribs start to hurt. Hong Kong has yet to make a movie this funny and that's saying a lot.

The performances in this film are decent. Jet Li plays the restrained and heroic lead, and he plays his part well. Jacky Cheung is the real scene stealer, though. Man, is the actor funny. I'm starting to wonder why these two haven't been teamed up again. There are plenty of more fun performances. The actor who play's Cheung's father also shares the scene stealing with Cheung and the Bond character is another humorous addition to a cast full of funny men.

If you're just an overall fan of Hong Kong films, then do yourself a favor and look for High Risk. It's been a while since I've seen a movie this fun and entertaining. It ranks with Fist of Legend and Bodyguard From Beijing as one of Li's best.

Rating:
Summary: "Oh, the humanity"
Review: Forget about this being a vehicle for Jet Li fight sequences. Or about this being a martial arts movie. (Although the final fight between Jacky Cheug and Kong sends shivers up and down my spine!) This movie is the best HK Action Comedy I've ever seen! Those of you who understand Chinese humor- look no further! There are comedic nuances in this movie that can't be described with words. And the voice-over Actors make it even better. Some of the dialogue had me laughing so hard I had to rewind 15 minutes of parts I missed. (I won't bore you with the plot- read other reviews for that.) SPOILER- But, during the final fight the bad guy pulls nunchucks on our hero Frankie Lane. Frankie says, "Is that what I think it is?" Kong replies, "Frankie merchandise. Off your website." There are dozens of one liners I'd love to include, but suffice it to say, I quote lines from this movie with my friends, like most guys quote lines from "Caddyshack". BE WARNED- This is not a "Film". This is the definitive Saturday Afternoon Popcorn "Movie". Director Wong Jing owes no apologies. Compare with other reviews, and act accordingly.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre HK action flick.
Review: Given the quality of other HK action films made during this time - I'd have to say this one fails as one for the most part. It does have it's moments and they are some brilliant moments at that. However, the "stuff" that holds these moments together is a mixture of lampooning comedy (at the expense of "big brother" Jackie Chan) and really pathetic plot devices. I saw this film as High Risk on an imported DVD. It had burned-in subtitles that were difficult to read at times. I would be really surprised if this DVD was of the same print. This is probably dubbed (it doesn't specify right now as I write this) and seriously cut. Once I receive my copy, I'll have to edit my review to add the facts on this edition. Even the import DVD suffers some minor cuts. The best reason to get this DVD is Jet Li's head superimposed on Donnie Yen's body.

Rating:
Summary: High Risk
Review: Great film for Jet Li fans.Not a lot of fighting but what there is is classic Jet Li, and worth the viewing.Lots of Hong Kong humor, making it a great film to watch again.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I was expecting.
Review: Having seen many other Jet Li movies, I was hyped to see this one. From what I heard about the movie it is a Hong Kong telling of Die Hard. I would say it is a movie that makes you love Die Hard even more. Also known as High Risk, Meltdown stars Jet Li as Kit Li, a bodyguard for the movie star Frankie Lane. Lane decides to go to a gala featuring the Crown Jewels of Russia, but unfortunately "the Doctor" has also decided to go to steal the jewels. "The Doctor" is a huge and ruthless terrorist that was responsible for killing Kit's wife two years earlier. Very few people that would watch this movie would care about the plot of the movie because what they probably want to see is Jet Li beating people up. They will be very disappointed to learn that Jet Li fights very little in this movie. He does not even have the typical one-on-one fight with the main villian at the end. All Jet LI does in this movie is run around every once in awhile shooting someone. The effects are horrible in this movie and many times you can tell that the "victims" are just mannequins. I have seen enough warmed over versions of Die Hard to know that this one isn't even on the same level as Under Seige or Sudden Death. There is very few things that make this movie watchable at all but the one thing I liked about this movie was it is the reason that Jackie Chan and Jet Li will never work togther. Frankie Lane is based on Jackie Chan and they make him a buffoon in this movie. Since there was no evidence of a script or point to the movie the only thing that was made clear was what Jet Li thinks of Jackie Chan. Unless you are very bored some night do not rent or buy this movie. It is stupid, boring, and poorly done.